The Spiritual Healing Properties of Strawberry Milkshakes
by MonsterConnoisseur117
Summary: In which lies a wholesome story about Percy finding a happy ending.
1. Chapter 1

Percy sat numbly at the counter of the diner. He'd just run from Camp Half-Blood, blinded by tears, maddened by loss and betrayal. He wasn't sure why he had found himself at the diner, but when the waitress asked him what he wanted with a kind smile he responded on impulse.

"Do you have strawberry milkshakes?" he asked.

"Only the best ones in the city." She answered, winking at him. Percy smiled weakly back at her, and the waitress left to input his order. Percy waited, trying to calm himself, for his milkshake. He overheard the two men at a booth behind him talking about something scientific, but Percy couldn't comprehend it with his brain at full power, let alone preoccupied with Annabeth's betrayal. The waitress set down a large glass filled with a light pink substance, a pile of whipped cream rested on top majestically. A vibrant red cherry gleamed atop its pure white throne, and Percy promptly plucked it from its place by the long stem and stuck it in his mouth. It was sweet, and the taste was beginning to calm him. He pulled the straw out of its paper wrapping and plunged it into the depths of the milkshake, destabilizing the entire equilibrium. He brought the straw to his mouth and tried to bring the drink to his mouth. After a few minutes of solid sucking on the straw he finally tasted it. The sweetness washed over him like a balm, and, while he didn't forget his problems, they suddenly didn't seem like such a big deal with that taste filling his senses. The door banged open, but Percy didn't bother looking over at the newcomer. Then someone sat on the stool next to him, and he could feel how angry that person was across the few inches separating them.

"Perseus." The moon goddess greeted him.

"I suppose you're here to drag me back in chains." Percy accused her.

"Well, after all you've done, I decided I would try to at least listen to your explanation before I did something like that. But yes, those are my orders." She responded, sounding angry.

"Explanation for what? To my knowledge nobody died, there was only a little bit of property damage too." Percy argued, tired of taking shit from the gods.

"You did the one thing I never thought you'd do. Or do I need to remind you? You broke a maiden's heart." She said. Percy took a long pull on his milkshake before answering.

"Who's the maiden? Cause it sure as hell wasn't Annabeth, not with what I walked in on her and my younger brother doing." Percy shot back. He continued drinking his milkshake slowly, savoring the sweet taste. It was quickly becoming his therapy, despite the angry goddess who would probably castrate him and turn him into an animal in the next few minutes.

"What? That's not her story." Artemis asked, confused. Percy raised an eyebrow and rotated his head slightly to look at her, still pulling on his milkshake. After a few minutes he released the straw and took a deep breath.

"I wasn't planning on running here. I just saw them and everything went blank. The next thing I knew I was standing in front of the campfire, half the cabins gone and a few people lightly injured. I just ran. I didn't know where I was going or what I was running from, I just picked a direction and ran as fast as I could. Until I ended up here." Percy shrugged, returning to the drinking of his milkshake.

"How can I believe you?" she asked. That made Percy angry. He'd never lied to any of the Olympians—that he remembers—and Artemis was questioning his story over the one who had been lying to _everyone_ for months? That just pissed Percy off.

"Well, you know what, I'm sorry that I walked in on my girlfriend fucking my younger brother in my bed." Percy retorted angrily, everyone in the diner turned to look at him in shock, but Percy was on a roll. "And maybe if you didn't automatically believe a girl before a guy for no other reason than the gender she was born with, we wouldn't be in this situation." He glared at her, Artemis was stunned. "But let's look on the bright side! At least I experienced the healing power of strawberry milkshakes before I got myself killed by your grumpy asswipe of a father!" Percy stormed out after throwing a ten dollar bill onto the counter. Once the door closed an old man danced happily in his seat.

"See Peter! Strawberry milkshakes have healing powers!"

#

Artemis was pissed. But that absolute rage was tempered by doubt. She didn't believe Perseus's story, she couldn't believe that there was a maiden who would do something so terrible to a man. Especially if that man was as virtuous as Perseus. But somewhere deep inside her, the seed of doubt grew. Perseus had never lied to her before, and he was the one who had lost control and run from Camp. It made more sense, logically, to believe Perseus's story. Yet, Artemis couldn't. Believing his story would mean accepting that males weren't always horrible chauvinistic pigs. Believing him would mean throwing her way of life for the past few thousand years—her entire life—into doubt. Deep down she knew she wasn't strong enough for that. She turned to the waitress, who was stunned.

"Give me one of those strawberry milkshakes, to go." She demanded. The waitress, through some sort of intuition—another reason women were superior—must have understood Artemis's motives. Five minutes later the drink was delivered, and the waitress held it out to Artemis.

"I hope you find him." She told Artemis. "He's obviously very important to you." She smiled sadly and Artemis threw her a golden drachma before leaving the diner. She saw a flash of orange in the distance, the color of Percy's shirt, and sprinted after it.

#

Percy's mad dash through the streets of New York, trying to escape Artemis so he could provoke Zeus into killing him, finally ended at the lobby of the Empire State Building. He took a deep breath and walked inside calmly, approaching the man at behind the desk.

"Give me the key for the six hundredth floor. Please." He said. The man glanced up, must have recognized Percy or decided not to be a dick that day, and handed over the key.

"You know the rules." The man dismissed him. Percy headed for the elevator and climbed in. There were no mortals. He turned the key and selected the button for the six hundredth floor. Artemis was waiting for him on the other side of the elevator. He opened his mouth to protest, but she placed one hand on his chest and pushed back into the elevator. The doors closed, and they descended. Artemis suddenly looked embarrassed. She held out a large Styrofoam cup with a straw in it and Percy took it reluctantly, expecting it to be poison. He didn't particularly care though, and cautiously took a pull on the straw. Nothing happened. He kept pulling, expecting some sort of blockage to clear and whatever type of venom it was to fly into his throat, killing him in a matter of seconds. The sad thing was, Artemis was the one god he didn't want to kill him. Unknown to everyone else, Percy'd had a crush on her since he had first been before the counsel to deliver Zeus's lightning bolt. In Percy's heart, it had been Annabeth racing Artemis. At first Annabeth started to pull ahead, then there was the fiasco where Artemis and Annabeth had both been captured, and Artemis had pulled ahead by far. But in the end, Percy knew Artemis was never going to win a race she didn't want to be involved in. When Annabeth had kissed him, he'd accepted that she won. Percy's thoughts were interrupted by the contents of the cup finally reaching his tongue. Strawberry flavored sweetness flooded his mouth, wiping away the residual anger from his confrontation with the moon goddess in the diner. He stared at her, realizing for probably the thousandth time just how beautiful she was, and realized that she had chased him down, and brought him a strawberry milkshake. He hadn't thought any of his yelling would get through to her, but apparently at least one thing did.

"You…" he trailed off, pausing his consumption of the liquid therapy to speak. "Why did you do this?" he asked. For half a second he imagined her response would be something along the lines of: 'I care about you.' But then the thought was gone, wiped away by Percy's logical mind.

"Because I was too quick to judge you. You've never lied to me before, and I should've considered your side of what happened before I assumed you were guilty." She said, it was about as close to an apology as Percy was going to get.

"A-Lady Artemis, you don't understand. I was going to Olympus so that I could provoke your father into killing me." Percy confessed.

"Why? Perseus, I know how this sounds coming from me, but she's just one girl among billions." Artemis asked.

"She wasn't just a girl to me. And I think you know as well as I do that just because there are billions of girls, doesn't mean I'm ever going to love one of them." Percy told her sadly. She was the exception, but she didn't know that.

"Perseus. I will not allow you to kill yourself." Artemis swore, surprising Percy.

"What if I jump off Olympus? What could you do to stop me once I was falling?" Percy asked.

"I'd stop you from falling." She answered.

"How? Are you going to follow me around for the rest of my life?" Percy asked.

"No. But you're going to follow me around." Artemis smirked, gripping one of his wrists harder than a vise and buckling some sort of magical bracelet onto his wrist.

"What is this?" Percy asked, outraged.

"You're going to be the first male to join the hunters of Artemis." She smirked.


	2. Chapter 2

Percy had been living with the hunt for nearly two years. The hunters themselves had gotten used to him after only a few months of "accidentally" shooting him. Artemis had attempted to teach Percy archery, so he could hunt, but soon discovered that continuing to try to teach him would put her hunters in great danger. With that in mind, she allowed him to substitute archery for spear-throwing. He was almost as accurate with his spears as the hunters with their bows, and his range was increasing steadily. Percy went about his daily chores, mostly things the senior hunters didn't want to do any more, and made sure to patiently help the newest recruits learn the chores as well. The chores were supposed to help them learn discipline, but if that was the only reason, the senior hunters didn't need to do them. So Percy did most of the work for the hunters' campsites. He hunted dinner, cleaned his kill, cooked his kill, and served the girls dinner, usually by placing it on a long banquet table and backing away quickly. Over the years he had learned which hunters were sensitive to which topics. With the diversity of the hunters, Percy could barely speak without offending one or another. At night he took the first watch, always. He would slowly patrol the perimeter, taking a break occasionally to put more wood on the fire. He was used to it by now.

#

Percy watched calmly as Artemis inspected his tent. They were the only two inside, and Artemis was tiredly going through his belongings.

"I think we both know by now that the only reason I'm doing this is to keep the hunters happy. We both know you wouldn't be stupid enough to bring inappropriate material into my camp." Artemis yawned.

"Answer me this Lady Artemis: if I accused a hunter of having something like what they accuse me of nearly every week, would you go through their belongings like this?" Percy asked, grumpy. Artemis stopped looking, but didn't respond. She just stood there, silent. "That's what I thought." Percy scoffed, fed up. He stormed out of his tent and went to do his chores. He scrubbed at the dishes angrily, hoping to calm down through his work. He'd been training recently, but he didn't want to take the easy way out by using his powers. So he scrubbed, and scrubbed. A group of hunters approached him while he was working, and one dropped something while the others spoke to him about the animals in the area.

"I saw a few elk maybe ten miles north. There were some antelope maybe twenty miles west. Not much other than that except for rabbits and squirrels." He summarized for them. Their leader smiled kindly at him and walked away. Percy didn't mind that, the hunters interrupting to ask legitimate questions or speak to him like an actual person. Then he noticed that the soapy water he was currently using was draining from the barrel quickly. He cursed and stood up, searching for the hole. He found it: a thin slit about the size of the knives the hunters all carried. Percy sighed.

"Better get the dishes done before dinner boy." One of the hunters who had been talking to him jeered. Percy dimly registered Artemis watching him as he turned and stalked away from camp. "Where are you going? Off to cry?" the same girl called after him, her friends snickering.

"That was the last of the soap." Percy called back. "Assuming I can make it into the city before dark, which is unlikely, I'll be back by morning. If not I'll have to wait until tomorrow morning to buy the soap. Have fun eating off dirty plates." Percy just kept walking, not looking back. In truth, he didn't plan on returning at all. Percy walked a few miles into the trees, making sure he was actually alone, and vanished in a sea breeze, the bracelet falling to the forest floor.

#

Percy smiled at the friendly waitress as he took his seat in the diner. It was the same place he had ended up after his run from Camp, and it was the same waitress.

"Lemme guess, strawberry milkshake?" she asked. Percy cracked a grin and nodded at her friendlily. He'd been visiting quite a bit, vanishing after his shift ended to get a milkshake to go before returning to his tent and enjoying it in silence. He'd become friends with the waitress, Tina. She was about his age, and pretty. Percy briefly considered what it would be like to go on a date with her. A normal date. Just going to the movies and having his biggest concern be accidentally touching her hand in the popcorn bowl, not a monster busting into the theatre and trying to kill him. The strawberry delicacy appeared and Percy thanked Tina with a bright smile. She smiled back at him, complete friendliness and nothing else. That was good. He wouldn't want anything to be awkward if he ended up having to shoot her down. "How's it going Percy?" she asked.

"Quit my job today, got the best strawberry milkshake in the city, and a pretty girl being paid to listen to me ramble. I don't see it getting any better." He responded. This was their dynamic, it worked for them. One of them would fake flirting with the other, the other would say "thank you" and the cycle would continue with a mix of teasing and flirting. The best part was that it was all a joke. Tina wasn't interested in Percy, and Percy wasn't interested in Tina, he would endanger a mortal by being in a relationship with them. Tina shook her head, but smiled nonetheless. She walked away smiling, amused.

"No arguments in the diner this time!" she called over to him, shaking her finger scoldingly. Percy rolled his eyes and drank his milkshake in peace, taking solace in the sweet taste.

#

Artemis just didn't understand. Some hunters had pranked Percy, which happened so often she had been surprised more on the days when it _didn't_ happen, and Percy had needed to go get more soap to wash dishes. It was all perfectly understandable. Except for the part where the tracking bracelet she had forced him to wear hadn't moved for the past three hours. Artemis paused, considering the possibility that Percy was genuinely bothered by the pranks, but shook it off and headed out to find him. She neared the location of the bracelet and found a clearing, but there was no one in sight. She stepped forward cautiously, entering the clearing. She found a simple black bracelet lying on the ground. Her blood boiled. Perseus Jackson had run away. She drew her bow and nocked a blunt tipped arrow, prepared to track him down and beat him up for a multitude of reasons. But there were no tracks. She could see vague outlines leading up to the place where the bracelet lay, but after that there was nothing. She walked back to her camp in a silent rage, vowing to track him down and drag him to Olympus for judgement.

#

Percy found a cheap apartment in the city near the diner and paid for a few months in advance using mortal money he had saved up. The place was fairly nice, it was at least in good shape and clean, but Percy would need new appliances and furniture. He sighed happily, content with his life currently, and fell asleep on a blanket and pillow laid on the floor.

#

Percy woke slowly, feeling safe for the first time in over a year. He rose, changed into clean clothes, and headed out into the city. It only took a few hours to purchase the appliances and furniture he needed, then he scheduled every item for a different day, to avoid complications. When he returned to his apartment he found Hermes waiting, reading something on his phone patiently.

"What do you want Hermes?" Percy demanding upon seeing the god in his own home.

"Zeus wants to talk to you. He's not even mad about anything, just has an offer for you." Hermes supplied. Percy sighed.

"Fine. But swear on the styx to protect me while I'm there." Percy demanded.

"I swear on the styx to keep Percy Jackson safe while he's on Olympus." Hermes complied. Percy allowed Hermes to flash both of them to Olympus, right into the throne room. Percy reluctantly bowed to the council.

"Perseus Jackson. I have an offer for you." Zeus declared. Percy could feel Artemis glaring at him hatefully.

"Please don't offer me godhood again." Percy replied, though he probably wasn't supposed to.

"Actually, my offer is the opposite. After all you have done, I have only seen you suffer for your deeds. So I offer you the chance to be free of your demigod scent for the rest of your life. You will remain a clear sighted mortal, and even retain a very limited amount of your godly powers, but for all intents and purposes, you will be completely mortal." Zeus responded. The throne room was silent. Percy, along with most of the council, was staring at Zeus in shock.

"You can't do that!" Artemis yelled, breaking her shock first. "He is indentured to me!" she continued.

"How so?" Zeus asked grumpily. "Did he slight you or your hunters in some way? Did you do some favor to him and that was how you asked to be repaid? I have been watching, daughter. Assuming he truly was indentured to you at one point, which I doubt, he has long since paid that debt." Zeus argued. Artemis was stunned silent, brooding.

"Lord Zeus." Percy declared. "I will accept your offer." He made eye contact with the king of the gods, and knew Zeus was genuine. Behind him, he could hear Artemis gasp.

#

Percy woke in his apartment. He climbed out of bed and stretched, yawning, as he trudged to the bathroom to shower. He performed the daily hygiene ritual and then headed out, his quest far from over. Percy went to the diner, which was actually just named "The Diner" and ordered his usual. Tina smiled at him as she always did, and Percy chuckled as she made a strange face at him before slipping back into the kitchen. He pulled out his cell phone, which he was still learning to use, and called the first number on his list.

"Hello?"

"Hello, I was wondering if you had any positions available." Percy asked.

"Not right now." Then the line went dead. That's right. Perseus Jackson's quest was job-searching. He sighed and cradled his head in his hands. That was the fifth day in a row he'd been denied flat out. He still had almost ten numbers on the list to call, but he just wasn't feeling it.

"What's going on Percy?" Tina asked as she carried out his milkshake and a plate with some eggs on it.

"Job-hunting." He groaned glumly.

"How long have you been looking for a job?" she asked.

"Five days." Percy answered.

"You realized there's a 'hiring' sign in the window, right?" she asked, snickering.

"You're kidding." Percy accused her.

"Nope. We need another waiter, you know how lonely I get out here in the mornings." Tina told him.

"Do I need to talk to your boss or something?" Percy asked. Tina leaned in real close, Percy assumed it was part of their fake-flirting joke and didn't react.

"I own the place." She told him.

"I feel like this whole day is just going to be a prank." Percy laughed.

"I'm serious Percy!" Tina protested.

"Okay, I believe you. Tina, my dear friend, can I have a job?" he asked.

"You'll have to submit an application, then I'll be sure to read over it." Tina answered, struggling not to laugh.

"I'm gonna eat my breakfast first." Percy grinned. Tina walked back toward the kitchen and paused partially through the door.

"You start tomorrow, be here at five. Yes, I mean in the morning." She laughed, disappearing into the back.


	3. Chapter 3

"Hey Tina, how's it going?" Percy asked, tying on his apron as Tina strolled into the kitchen. She smiled at him, a smile Percy had only started seeing when he was showing up every day, Percy wasn't sure it was just a friendly smile.

"I'm good Perce" she called back. Percy grinned at her, a grin he admitted he had saved for a specific blonde in the past. But that was years ago now. He'd been a full-fledged mortal for a little over a year, and he'd been working for the hunt for two years before that. In the entire time since he had accepted Zeus's offer there had been no monster attacks anywhere near him. And his mother's second child, Percy's perfectly normal baby sister, absolutely loved Percy's apartment. In fact, he and his mother hadn't been this close since before he started going to Camp. He may have lost almost all of his power over water, but he retained his resistance to high temperatures, and was clear-sighted. He'd been working alongside Tina for a year, almost to the day, and he admitted he was very happy. There were barely any customers, The Diner had that sort of vibe, but Percy didn't need the money he got from the job, he needed to get out of his apartment every day before he died of boredom. Tina had started it for fun, since her parents were filthy rich, and she mostly supported herself with The Diner. They were the only two employees, so it was good that they got along so well, except for the guy who showed up twice a month to do some basic finance things. There had been another employee before Percy, but she had started getting short with Tina, and they weren't able to work together.

"How's your dad?" Percy asked.

"Still in the hospital, but the doctors think he's going to be fine. It was only his third heart attack. They were ready for it." She answered. Tina was now standing next to him as he warmed up the stove. The Diner wasn't actually open yet, so they could chat for a few minutes without worrying.

"So, hey Percy?" she asked, suddenly bashful.

"Yeah?" Percy asked.

"Do you remember when we met?" she asked.

"Of course, it was both the best and worst day of my life." Percy answered.

"Well, I was just wondering, what ever happened with that girl who chased you after you left The Diner?" Tina asked. Sometimes it was easy to forget that Tina was still a girl in her early twenties. She carried so much responsibility that she just never seemed to worry about the same things as other girls her age. He hated to admit it, but Percy had fallen in love again. He was a mortal now, there was nothing to stop him from being interested in a mortal girl.

"I worked for her for a while. Then I quit. Why?" Percy asked.

"She seemed to care a lot about you." Tina shrugged.

"Nah, she just wanted to put an arrow in places there shouldn't be arrows." Percy joked. Tina looked at him in confusion. "Nevermind, it was a stupid joke." Percy told her.

"Okay then." She laughed.

"Hey, Tina?" Percy asked, pretending to be bashful like she had to mock her.

"Yes Percy?" she asked.

"Well, I was actually wondering if you were free after work on Friday." Percy turned serious.

"Perseus Jackson, are you asking me on a date?" Tina asked jokingly, looking at him with a ridiculous face.

"I think that's what just happened, yeah." Percy answered, blushing and turning his attention back to the stove.

"I would love to." Tina whispered, suddenly millimeters from his ear. Then, while Percy was frozen in shock, she disappeared into the front to open the store. This time, his quest was very different from any quest he'd had before. All he had to do was take a girl he was crazy about on a date. Easy, right?

#

Percy didn't know what kind of dates a rich person went on, but he tried to dress up nice and plan a fancy evening. His mother, who was the only girl he knew besides Tina, had told him not to worry about it. He did anyway. As soon as he arrived at Tina's apartment to pick her up, all of his meticulous planning went straight to shit. She was sick, a whole lot more sick than she had let on when she'd called. She'd told him she was sick, but Percy had told her he was going to come over and check on her anyway. He'd been too worried to put on casual clothes. Percy had taken a raincheck, considering her condition, and was about to leave when Tina collapsed. Percy's reflexes were just as fast as they used to be, and he caught her easily. She moaned quietly in distress as he carried her to her bed.

"Tina, are you okay?" he asked gently.

"Hmm? Percy? I'm fine. I just got really dizzy all of a sudden." She muttered.

"Hold on. I'll take care of you. But don't worry, you won't have to get used to it. It's just for tonight." Percy promised, grinning. He thought he saw a flash of gold outside her window, but brushed it off. Percy hurried into Tina's kitchen and found a clean pot, he checked her fridge, and found she had everything he would need. Then he set about making his secret weapon for the fighting of colds. Tina looked at the bowl of soup on her bedside table sleepily, then at the spoonful Percy was trying to feed her.

"Why is it blue?" she asked.

"Tina, just eat the soup." Percy had answered her. She opened her mouth and allowed Percy to feed her the soup. That was how the evening went. Tina was so sick, from some unknown cause, that she could only ingest a few spoonfuls of the broth before stopping. So Percy stayed between her bedside and her kitchen, keeping the pot warm when he wasn't spoon feeding the sick girl. Eventually Tina started holding Percy's hand, and he wasn't able to leave for fear of disturbing her.

"Percy. C'mere." She whispered. Percy leaned down so she could whisper to him better. "Don't leave me." She muttered.

"Well where do you want me to sleep then?" Percy asked.

"There's room on the bed." Tina stated. Percy tried to argue, but Tina was sick, and she knew how to pull his strings anyway. Percy reluctantly laid in bed with her, Tina directed his arms around her as she snuggled into his embrace.


	4. Chapter 4

Percy opened his eyes blearily. The train which rumbled past his apartment every day at eight shook the apartment moments later. Percy smiled tiredly and turned his head. It'd been fifteen years since he had become mortal. He was thirty seven. Next to him, Tina slept peacefully, her arm clutching his chest to prevent him from leaving. Their bedroom was relatively small, as his apartment wasn't really all that large, but it worked for them. The bedroom door opened slowly, and a pair of eyes less than three feet off the ground peeked around them. The owner of the eyes saw that Percy was awake and bounded into the room, grinning widely. She jumped onto the bed and Percy caught her, knocking the wind out of him. But he smiled anyway. After the little girl trailed an older girl.

"Daddy! Aunt Andy came to visit!" the little girl screamed.

"Sorry Perce, I couldn't stop her." Andromeda Blofis scratched the back of her head sheepishly.

"It's fine." Percy told her. Next to him Tina yawned and opened her eyes, smiling at the little girl.

"Hey you." She greeted her daughter. Percy released the little monster and watched as she tackled her mother

"I'll get breakfast going." Percy leaned over and kissed his wife on the forehead, climbing out of bed and following his younger sister to the kitchen. Soon after he had left, the smell of bacon and pancakes wafted through the apartment. The little girl stopped suddenly, sniffing the air, and bolted off to the kitchen.

"Bacon!" she squealed, her feet pounding the floor.

"The bacon isn't ready yet!" Percy laughed.

"Gimme bacon!" the little munchkin answered.

"As soon as it's cool. You can't eat it right after it comes out of the pan, or you'll burn your tongue off." Percy told her. Tina rose from the bed and tiredly padded into the kitchen. She poured herself a cup of coffee and moved Percy's over from the counter in front of the coffee machine, to right next to where he was cooking both bacon and pancakes. She did not doubt his cooking ability, he'd been cooking for The Diner for over a decade now, but she did doubt his ability to remember where he put his coffee. Twenty minutes later everyone was situated around the table, quietly eating their vividly blue pancakes and their completely regular bacon. Percy knew there was a reason his younger sister had come to his apartment, but he didn't know what it was. Tina left, taking their daughter, whose name was Angela in case you were wondering, to kindergarten. Percy turned to his sister as the door closed, an expectant look on her face.

"Brad ditched me at the dance last night." She told him.

"Brad? I'm guessing it wasn't serious or I would've heard about him. I hope." Percy tried to get her to laugh.

"It wasn't. But I liked him for a while, and then I finally got the nerve to ask him to a dance, and he said yes. I was so happy, and then I showed up at the dance and he acted like he didn't know me. He was with some other girl." Andy narrated.

"Give me a few minutes to get dressed, I know what you need." Percy stood, heading into his bedroom.

#

Percy and Andy descended the stairs quickly. The door at the bottom was locked, but Percy quickly unlocked it with his key. He told his sister to sit at one of the stools on the bar, it was older than the rest, and creaked when she sat on it, but she didn't protest. Percy went into the kitchen and Andy could hear a blender minutes later. A few minutes passed, her wondering what was going on, then Percy emerged with two tall glasses filled with a light pink fluid. He set one in front of her, picked up his straw, and plunged it into the milkshake viciously. Then he plucked the red cherry from the top and popped it into his mouth, removing the stem with practiced ease. Andy had her doubts, but she followed his lead and soon the sweet drink was flooding her taste buds. Everything seemed to slip away, leaving only the sweet taste of that milkshake. Percy noticed her expression and grinned at her with his own straw still in his mouth.

"How did you know that would help?" Andy asked.

"You may not believe it, but when I was only a few years older than you I had a pretty bad breakup of my own. That was when I discovered the spiritual healing properties of strawberry milkshakes, and this diner has the best ones in the city." Percy told her. Andy thanked him and, since it was a Saturday, went into the back to put on an apron.

#

The bell over the door rang, and Andy glanced up from the cash register. She didn't recognize the tall, blonde woman, but she recognized the kid. Brad, the boy who had ditched her, was following the woman, presumably his mother, into the place where Andy worked.

"I'll be over to take your orders in a minute." She called over to them. She finished what she was doing and walked over to the table, her heart thudding painfully in her chest. "Hi. I'm Andy, what can I get for you?" she asked politely. The blonde woman looked up and smiled softly when she saw Andy's name tag.

"Andromeda is a beautiful name, dear. I'll just have a water for now." She said.

"A coke, please." Brad said, not even looking up at her. Andy headed back into the kitchen and got their drinks for them before heading back to the table. The mother-son combo occupied the only booth in the place, it was still too early for most of the regulars.

"Thank you, would you mind if I asked you a quick question?" the blonde woman asked.

"Sure." Andy smiled. She always tried to be friendly whether she was talking to a customer or not.

"Do you know someone named Perseus Jackson?" she asked, intense gray eyes emanating a mix of many emotions.

"He's my big brother." Andy answered.

"Oh!" the woman seemed surprised. "Do you know where he is?" she asked.

"He's in the kitchen." Andy supplied. "He and my sister-in-law Tina own this place." She told the blonde woman.

"I see." She smiled sadly. "Forget I said anything." She said.

"I can go get him, he's not doing anything right now anyway." Andy offered.

"No, I doubt he wants to see me." The woman declined. Andy smiled at her apologetically and went back into the kitchen.

"Percy, there's some lady out there who says she knows you." She greeted her brother.

"Did you get a name?" he asked.

"No. But, you could at least take a look and see if you recognize her." Andy answered. Percy shrugged and peeked through the circular window in the door to the restaurant proper. He sighed.

"That's Annabeth." He said sadly. "I already told you that story." He walked back to the stove.

"That's also Brad's mom." Andy said.

"His mom? Or his sister?" Percy asked. Andy sent him a confused look and Percy sighed again, he opened the door and walked toward the booth calmly.

"So, Annabeth, long time no see. Care to tell me why you're looking for me?" Percy asked, resting his hand on the table his ex-girlfriend was sitting at.

"My brother heard the stories and wanted to meet you. You're a legend at Camp. He's been obsessed with you for months." Annabeth answered.

"Well I'm not a demigod anymore. I haven't picked up a sword in fifteen years. I'm not that person anymore." Percy responded.

"I realize that. He just wanted to meet you." She gestured to her younger brother. Percy eyed the kid in annoyance.

"Usually, I'd be pretty friendly right now. Except that you ditched my sister at a dance last night." He commented.

"Brad, is Andy the mortal girl you were talking about?" Annabeth interjected suddenly.

"Yeah, but then we got an iris message from Grover saying there was a monster on our tail and I didn't want to put her at risk so I just ignored her." Brad sank down into his seat. Percy's eyes softened.

"I'll be back." He muttered, heading into the back. "Andy, I'm going to need you in just a minute." He called over to his younger sister as he hurried past. He ran upstairs and grabbed a cheap ball point pen from a drawer in his kitchen before running back downstairs. Andy followed him over to the table curiously and Percy handed her the pen once they were both there.

"What's this?" she asked.

"Uncap it." He answered. She gave him a funny look, but pulled the cap off anyway. A three foot long celestial bronze blade grew in her hands, and Andy gasped. Percy sighed.

"Is that?" Brad asked, looking at Percy with wide eyes.

"Anaklusmos." He nodded.

"What is going on?" Andy asked, freaked out.

"Big reveal time, sis." Percy smirked. "What do you know about the Greek Gods?" he asked. Andy stared at him with wide eyes.

#

"So in conclusion," Andy began, staring at the bronze blade in her hands, "You used to be a demigod, then you somehow stopped being one and settled down with Tina. And, to top it off, the Greek Gods are real." She finished.

"Pretty much. Brad ditched you at the dance because there was a monster chasing him. He didn't want to put you in danger. But if I teach you to use a sword, you'll be able to defend yourself against monsters and, if you want, you could even give Brad another chance. A new start, if you will. It's completely up to you." He told her.

"I'd like to." She said.

"Okay, Annabeth, Brad, if you're willing, take her to Camp on your way back." He looked at the two blondes. They nodded.

#

Percy smiled as he woke up. Angela bounded into his bedroom screeching incomprehensible babble about Santa Claus and snow, waking Tina up rather quickly.

"Come on Mommy! Hurry Daddy! Santa came!" she yelled at them.

"We're coming" Percy told her, smiling. He was still working on his last quest, but he didn't mind. It wasn't something he would never rush even if he could. After all, he had to keep his family safe, which was his last, and greatest, quest.


End file.
